


The Walk

by ultrahotpink



Series: Weather [2]
Category: Mercy Street (TV)
Genre: A Walk, American Civil War, F/M, Flirting, Love, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 01:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7413772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultrahotpink/pseuds/ultrahotpink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jed takes Mary on their promised walk...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Walk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [middlemarch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/middlemarch/gifts).



> This fic was originally inspired by the May Fic Challenge prompt 'Rain'. It's a continuation of my earlier fic 'Sitting in the Sun'. 
> 
> Thank you to middlemarch, for all of her encouragement during the process of writing this fic!

Nearly a week had passed since Jed had asked her to go on a walk with him. There had been a small but steady influx of patients. Not enough to prevent them from taking meals and stopping for the occasional break, but it was enough that they had only the chance to speak when they were in surgery together or examining a patient. One could hardly talk about country walks with a dying man before them, and yet it had been her favorite day dream when she had a moment to herself.

She was rolling bandages in the medical supplies room when he appeared in the doorway. 

"It finally seems to be yielding out there," he spoke.

Mary nodded. "Yes. This is the first free moment I've had in a while, so I thought I would make myself useful."

Jed stood in front of her in his army issued waist coat and tie. He moved to sit on the edge of the desk opposite of her. "Perhaps we might take that walk today. You'll have to speak to the head nurse though, since it appears I have no sway."

Mary smiled, and her fingers stopped moving. She had known when she made that joke that it was likely to come back again. "As it happens you've caught her in a good moment. I should be pleased of some diversion this afternoon."

"They say that miracles happen, but I did not believe until this moment." Jed pushed off from the desk, moving to the medical cabinet to grab a bottle of chloroform. "I have a surgery this morning with Miss Green, but I should be free after that. Say, one o’clock?"

Mary's heart sped up at the anticipation of their time together, and she felt that she could not form words so she nodded.

"Good. I'll meet you on the back porch." He left the room swiftly. 

She dropped the piece of cloth she had been holding. They would walk together, that was all, and then they would return to their duties refreshed from the exertion. Perhaps there was a touch of impropriety in their walking alone together without a chaperone, or rather another person as they were both too old for that. But as long as they kept to public roads and paths there could be nothing to it. And anyway, he meant nothing by inviting her for a walk. 

She picked up the loose bandages again. She would speak to Sister Isabella about covering her ward when she was done, and perhaps change into a fresh blouse before they left.

****

Mary stood on the back porch examining the horizon. There were clouds in the distance of the otherwise blue sky. She clasped her hands together as she took a deep breath.

She heard Jed's even steps behind her before he appeared at her side. His handsome profile gave her a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. 

He too had changed. He wore a deep blue paisley waist coat with a royal blue tie which suited his dark features well. In his hand he was carrying a basket. Perhaps he had yet to have his lunch, although she realized in that moment that she had forgotten to eat the midday meal in her haste to ready herself for their walk.

"Shall we?" He asked, his eyebrow cocking up.

Mary nodded, and Jed took them in the direction past Carlisle House.

"I asked Miss Green to advise me on her favorite spots to walk. I hope you don't mind a journey."

"Not at all." She clasped her hands in front of her.

They chatted through the loud and crowded streets of Alexandria as they transitioned into a peaceful wooded area almost seamlessly. When had they left the city? Before Mary could realize she found herself well and truly alone with Jed for the first time. No Miss Hastings lurking around a corner. No orderlies, porters, or nurses passing in the background. No one threatening interrupt them. They were well and truly alone.

She had assumed when he had asked her to go for a walk that they would be walking somewhere public, like the wharf, or along Prince Street or on some public country road. 

Away from the hospital and listening ears, but still well under the public eye. But here, in the middle of nowhere? 

They came through the wooded path to a large clearing of grass that sloped into a valley with rolling hills on the other side. Mary's breath caught and she gasped at the beauty of the scene before her.

"I hadn't expected this so close to Alexandria." She said.

Jed opened the basket, producing a thin blue blanket. He unfurled it before them. "I thought we might sit a while."

Mary raised an eyebrow. "Did you?" 

Jed settled down on the blanket, looking up at her with his mischievous smile. 

She smiled, relenting and sat down next to him, as respectable a distance as the blanket would allow, although still impossibly close. She glanced at the basket at the edge of the blanket. "What's in the basket?"

Jed reached to the end of the blanket moving the basket between them.

Mary's fingers perched at the edge of the lid, seeking Jed's eyes to ask for permission. He nodded, and she opened the latch. 

Mary pulled out the pair of sandwiches wrapped in plain brown paper, two apples, and two small jars filled with water.

"This is quite a surprise. Did Miss Green suggest this too?"

Jed shook his head. "I arranged it with the Steward this morning before my surgery. Mr. Aitkin is a shrewd business man, but it is worth it to be able to eat somewhere other than the officer’s dining room." 

Mary smiled as she opened the paper to see an egg salad sandwich. "I'm grateful. I'd forgotten to eat before we left."

"I thought that might be the case. You must take better care of yourself. The hospital needs you too much." Although he had emphasised the word hospital, there was something in his tone to suggest that more than just the hospital needed her.

They ate staring out at the beautiful view before them, absorbed in sating their hunger and thirst. Luckily under the new steward the food was an improvement over the old.

When they had finished Jed stretched out beside her, leaning back to rest on his arms.

"It's certainly a different world out here." His gaze cast out over the scene.

She looked out over its beauty, before frowning. "It's hard to imagine that a hundred miles away or so there are men killing each other."

He looked at her. "I try to forget it when I'm not sewing them back together."

"But how can you?" she asked, her eyes pleading with his.

He turned, lying on his side. His body facing her. "Our lives cannot only be about this war Mary. For if they are when it ends, what will be left of us?"

"It plagues my dreams sometimes. I cannot help it." She closed her eyes, lying back on the blanket, as she thought of the fate of so many soldiers who weren’t lucky enough to make it to their care. 

"That's why I've endeavored to distract you. A nice meal, a beautiful view, excellent company." 

She opened her eyes to see him looking at her. His emphasis on his own excellent company made her smile. Even though he meant it as a joke, it was perfectly true, he was excellent company. She observed his thin muscular form beside her, lying so informally. His hair looking a little wild from being placed under a hat. He was so relaxed, and he was trying to put her at ease, but his efforts were having the opposite effect entirely. She closed her eyes attempting to remove the image of Jed stretched out beside her, only to imagine him closing the gap between them as he moved over her, stoking her hair before kissing her softly. She inhaled deeply, her eyes still shut and she drifted off into a light sleep. 

Mary awoke, her face upturned to the sky. She was lying on her back, one hand above her head, and one placed on her stomach. She blinked slowly, staring up at the sky that now possessed more clouds than before. 

She turned her neck to look at Jed who was lounging on his side, his eyes raking over her. She felt her stomach knot at the thought that Jed had been watching her while she slept. He had a strange smile on his face that only added to the knots she was already feeling. Had she betrayed anything of what she had been thinking? 

“How long was I asleep?” she asked.

“Over an hour.”

Mary sat up suddenly “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“How could I wake you when you were so clearly exhausted?” His brow furrowed in a confused expression, as though it were a sin to rouse her from slumber. 

A drop of water hit Mary’s cheek and she stood up quickly. “We should head back before it starts to come down.” Several heavy drops started to fall. “Oh dear. We’ll have to take shelter…” She glanced around.

Jed pointed to the path they had come from. “There’s a large tree just up the path.” 

He handed her the basket as he grabbed the blanket. The rain began pouring down and they ran towards the shelter of the trees.

“I should have brought an umbrella.” Or perhaps she shouldn’t have been so foolish as to fall asleep.

“It’s just a little downpour. I’m sure it will ease up in time.”

And then it hit her. They were stuck under a tree together, alone, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a summer rain storm, and they had been gone more than a few hours. What if Summers went in search of them? What if they were needed and couldn’t be found?

She moved to the edge of the tree cover. “Perhaps we should attempt to make a dash for it?”

“That would be a fool’s errand, surely. No, we should stay here and wait out the worst of it.” He said, resting his hand on her arm.

She shrugged the hand off. “We should not have lingered. What if we’re needed?” Mary felt her chest tighten. What if they thought there to be some impropriety between them? A part of her had certainly wished for it. Why had she been co foolish? What if she lost her place? 

“They’ll be fine without us.” Jed spoke a little more sternly.

She could tell by the tone in his voice that he was frustrated with her.

Mary spun to face him, her anger bubbling below the surface. “You truly don’t understand what people could think about this, do you?”

“We have done nothing amiss. Pray, what could they think?”

“You are a gentleman. Surely you know how fragile a woman’s reputation can be.”

Jed shook his head taking a step towards her, his hand reaching out for hers only the clench as though thinking the better of it. His eyes met hers. “We have done nothing wrong here Mary. If anyone says otherwise-“

“To deny it would only fuel their suspicions.” She crossed her arms in front of her, shaking her head.

She saw something change in Jed’s eyes. As though a switch had been flipped and the passion he had been trying to contain had flowed in his eyes. 

He took a step towards her. “And what suspicions would those be?”

She took a step backwards into the rain, before stepping forward again. She was backed against a wall of rain, but she would not be bested by him. He was not a naïve man. If anything he was more cynical than most, yet he was acting as though he didn’t understand. 

“Tell me why you took me to such a remote place. Surely you’re aware that being alone together is, well not done.” She asked.

“You are a woman who knows her own mind. Who has challenged me a thousand times, who runs a hospital with hundreds of patients, and yet I led you here? What nonsense. Tell me why you came and what is distressing you so now?”

Why had she come? For fresh air and exercise. To feel the accidental graze of his fingers on hers as they walked together. To be spoken to as an equal, to be flirted with as a lover. She had dreamt all week of that yes, but not of falling asleep, of being missed. Of throwing kerosene on the flame of rumors. Why had they been so foolish? 

“You must have seen the clouds coming and yet you let me sleep?” She asked, determined not to be swayed.

He inhaled sharply as though trying to control his temper. “As I said, you looked peaceful.”

“You weren’t hoping that we would be-“

“What, stuck arguing under a tree? It is not how I envisioned our time together, no.” 

“And just what did you imagine? I know that there are widows who might seek something other than another husband-”

“How could you think that that’s what I want from you? That I came here solely with the intent of raising your skirts? I thought we understood each other better than that.”

“We do.” Her eyes pleaded with his. “Which is why it is not merely you that I worry of.”

His eyes were fixed with hers as he took the basket from her hands. He put it and the blanket he was holding on the forest floor. “I think it is time that we spoke plainly with each other, don’t you?”

She nodded. 

“Neither of us have planned for this. Mary, you are good, kind and pure and indeed, I have fought with myself for weeks about my desire to know your thoughts and feelings. To be close to you. Under the veil of friendship at first, but that has fallen despite our intentions, I think.”

Jed’s eyes searched hers before gently taking her hands in his.

“If I am the only one who is feeling this, ache, this longing to be near you, then we may leave here afterwards and never speak of this again. But if by some miracle you feel as I do then let us figure out how to move forward, together.” He squeezed her hands as his eyes searched hers.

She took several steady breaths in. They had both been fighting the same fight. Waging a war against themselves. Both grappling with the gravity of their feelings, their desires for one another. 

She met his large eyes and knew in that moment that she loved him. To continue to fight it, would be to wage two wars.

He dropped one of her hands to cup her face, his thumb lightly caressing her cheek. “There are no prying eyes here Mary, no one listening at the door.” 

And then, despite her better judgement she placed her hand lightly on his waist and nodded. 

Jed smiled before bringing his lips lightly to hers. Testing softly as though it were a dream that they were both afraid to wake from. But this was achingly real. His hand was at the small of her back, guiding her back towards the tree. He spun her before kissing her with more urgency now. She felt the rough hardness of the tree bark behind her and Jed’s warm and firm body pressed against her and felt a rush of full aching desire she had not felt for an age. At least now no matter what anyone else said, it would be true, but only they would know for sure.

The loud patter of the heavy rain drops gave way to a roaring calm that settled around them.

Mary ended the kiss softly. She pressed her forehead against Jed’s, attempting to return her breath and heartbeat to a more even pace. Her hand cupped his cheek, cradling it lovingly. “We should head back.”

He searched her eyes and nodded releasing her.

Nothing had been resolved and yet everything was now so clear.

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to let me know what you think with a comment or a kudos!


End file.
